Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Broadwood - The Fishless Loch

I took the kayak down to Broadwood loch tonight, not for the first time this year, a place where I've had some good success with pike and perch in the past but that I've never named publicly on the blog before. It was a bit wet but I managed to get out for about an hour and a half without getting too wet.

Tried various locations with a favourite wee lure of mine but came across the usual weed problems on the west bank. So after moving out a wee bit I was able to get a good few casts in and make quite a few passes on the troll right around the loch and down this bank which has historically been quite good to me in the past. I know it's still a bit early but there was nothing moving in here at all and I didn't even get a touch on the lure which is quite unusual. Broadwood, except for this year, which used to hold, roach, tench, bream, carp, perch and pike in quite good numbers now seems fishless. This isn't the first time I've blanked here in 2014 !

Something of major concern was this sign, the likes of which I've never seen before on this local water

and the fact I encountered quite a few Polish anglers in 2013 doing all nighters in a quiet secluded spot where they had cleared the silty, sandy bottom of weed in order to maximise catch rates on the south east bank.

I'm beginning to think this place has been hammered over winter with the catching and killing of fish, something which has only happened to a limited extent in the past and it is now all but fishless.

I think the sign must have been posted by North Lanarkshire Council as a result of complaints from the local match anglers due to minimal catch rates. The match anglers, who used to be prolific on the east bank are now, like the fish, only prominent by their absence...

2 comments:

i have fished this loch for four years and only had 1 pike , i once saw a guy come out from the housing estate next to the offices at atholl rd in his slippers checking a set line ,i also contacted the local msp about putting signs up in eastern european to say all fish must be returned she said that it could not be done as there is no law against taking course fish